ENGG 406 - Engineering Management

Question 1

Functions of Engineers in Different Areas

Answer 1

1. Production of more food for a fast-growing world population
2. Elimination of air and water pollution
3. Solid waste disposal and materials recycling
4. Reduction of noise in various forms
5. Supplying the increasing demand for energy
6. Supplying the increasing demand for mobility

Question 2

Functions of Engineers in Different Areas

Answer 2

7. Preventing and solving crimes
8. Meeting the increasing demand for communication facilities
9. Engineers are expected to perform variety of tasks depending on their specialization and job level
10. It is important to the engineer that he knows what is expected of him so that he may be able to perform his job effectively and efficiently

Question 3

Functions of Engineers in Different Areas

Answer 3

11. His next concern will be able to identify the skills required but which he does not have
12. As engineers are not trained to directly deal with people, it is expected that their weakness will most often be in people-based skills. This difficulty will be more apparent once they are assigned to occupy management positions.
13. It follows that if the engineer manager would want to do the job well, some exposure to engineering management activities become necessary.

Question 4

Where the engineer is engaged in the process of learning about nature and codifying this knowledge into usable theories

Answer 4

Research

Question 5

Where the engineer undertakes the activity of turning a product concept to a finished physical item

Answer 5

Design and Development

Question 6

Design for manufacturability and value engineering teams are charged with the improvement of designs and specifications at the research, development, design, and production stages of product development.

Answer 6

Design and Development

Question 7

Where the engineer works in a unit where new products or parts are tested for workability

Answer 7

Testing

Question 8

Where the engineer is directly in charge of production personnel or assumes responsibility for the product

Answer 8

Manufacturing

Question 9

This is where the construction engineer is either directly in charge of the construction personnel or may have responsibility for the quality of the construction process.

Answer 9

Construction

Question 10

Where the engineer assists the company’s customers to meet their needs, especially those that require technical expertise.

Answer 10

Sales

Question 11

Where the engineer works as consultant of any individual or organization requiring his services.

Answer 11

Consulting

Question 12

Where the engineer may find employment in the government performing any of the various tasks in regulating, monitoring, and controlling the activities of various institutions, public or private.

Answer 12

Government

Question 13

Where the engineer gets employment in a school and is assigned as a teacher of engineering courses. Some of them later become deans, vice presidents, and presidents.

Answer 13

Teaching

Question 14

Where the engineer is assigned to manage groups of people performing specific tasks.

Answer 14

Management

Question 15

As engineers, you are expected to perform tasks depending on your specialization and job level:

Answer 15

1. Know your purpose
2. Assess your skills
3. Improve your craft
4. Know how will you deliver

Question 16

Why study Engineering Management

Answer 16

• It helps the engineer become a more effective technical specialist and strengthens the ability to lead people and projects.
• As a specialist, the engineer becomes more effective through understanding how his or her engineering skills can best support the goals of the organization and its customers.

-And the trained engineering manager becomes uniquely qualified for two types of positions: management of the technical functions (such as research, design, or production), and the management of broader functions (such as marketing or general management) in the high-technology enterprise.

Question 17

Why study Engineering Management

Answer 17

It helps an engineer become a more effective technical specialist and strengthens the ability to lead people and projects.

Question 18

Historical Development of Engineering Management

Answer 18

1. The story of the development of management thought and of the ability of human to organize and control complex activities has already been documented.
2. The great construction projects of ancient civilizations and the medieval production facility of the Arsenal of Venice discussed the people and situations of the most significance and interest of the engineer in management.
3. The Industrial Revolution changed not only manufacturing, but society as well, first in England, and then in America.
4. As the nineteenth century ended and the twentieth century began, the United States led the world in finding better, more efficient ways to do things, in a movement that became known as scientific management, while Europeans such as Max Weber and Henri Fayol were developing philosophies of management at the top level.
5. Engineering management continues to evolve, with the development in the second half of the twentieth century of methods for managing large projects such as the Apollo program, the customer-centered organizations, globalization, and the revolution in the lives of people that computer technology is creating.

Question 19

Historical Development of Engineering Management

Answer 19

► The great pyramid of Cheops, built about 4,500 years ago, covers 13 acres and contains 2,300,000 stone blocks weighing an average of 5,000 pounds per piece.

► Estimates are that it took 100,000 men and 20 to 30 years to complete the pyramid—about the same effort in worker-years as it later took the United States to put a man on the moon.

► The only construction tools available were levers, rollers, and immense earthen ramps.

► Yet the difference in height of opposite corners of the base is only 1/2 inch!

Question 20

Areas of Specialization

Answer 20

1. Research
2. Design and Development
3. Testing
4. Manufacturing
5. Construction
6. Sales
7. Consulting
8. Government
9. Teaching
10. Management

Question 21

The Engineer in Various Types of Organization

Answer 21

1. Level One
2. Level Two
3. Level Three

Question 22

Those with minimal engineering jobs like retailing firms.

Answer 22

Level One

Question 23

Those with high degree of engineering jobs
like construction firms

Answer 23

Level Three

Question 23

Those with moderate degree of engineering
jobs like transportation companies

Answer 23

Level Two

Question 24

Ability to coordinate and integrate all of an organization’s interest and activities.

Answer 24

Conceptual Skills

Question 25

It involves seeing the organization as a whole. understanding how its parts depend on one another, and anticipating how a change in any of its parts will affect the whole

Answer 25

Conceptual Skills

Question 26

Ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people as individuals or in groups

Answer 26

Human Skills

Question 27

Ability to use the procedures, techniques, and knowledge of a specialized field

Answer 27

Technical Skills